Gut Reaction: Preseason Week 3 - Broncos vs Seahawks

Their destination? The year 2005. You remember that year, don't you? It was the year the Broncos didn't allow a single yard on defense--or so it seemed.

The Broncos' first-team defense allowed the Seahawks only 39 yards in the first half tonight in their 23-20 victory. By the end of the 3rd quarter, that total had hardly increased.

Was that Al Wilson or Joe Mays out there tonight?

Okay, I won't get too carried away. The Broncos were playing the Seattle Seahawks; they were facing a young offensive line. It's the preseason.

Things won't always be this way. Will they?

Tonight, I'll dream dreams of Von Miller and Elvis Dumervil. There will be a stopwatch. It will start at 00:00. Three seconds later, Miller and Dumervil enter the picture.

The stopwatch explodes.

Let's get to the Positives, the Negatives, and the Who The Heck Knows?

The Positives

1. Knowshon Moreno continues to show that he meant business when he said he was quicker this year. He looks much more like the runner you saw at Georgia than the one you've seen with the Broncos over the past two years. While I'm at it, you have to also like how Willis McGahee closes the deal on 3rd and short. Rarely does McGahee move backwards. In fact, when McGahee gets up in the morning, he immediately falls three yards forward.

2. The double-bunch set the Broncos ran (for the first time I've seen all year) in the 2nd quarter is tailor made for a guy like Julius Thomas, who played well tonight. It gets him into space quickly and takes advantage of his athleticisim. The Broncos also ran the double-bunch in the 4th quarter with Tim Tebow behind center, but used it to run.

3. Von Miller beating the Seahawks' rookie right tackle James Carpenter all night was an amusing distraction. Tarvaris Jackson probably wouldn't agree with me, though. Miller beat Carpenter to the outside with his speed rush. Then, for good measure, he beat him to the inside when the tackle leaned too far outside in anticipation. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

4. The best free-agent signing the Broncos made in the offseason was the hiring of Dennis Allen. Tonight, after the Broncos turned the ball over, Allen didn't wait for the offense to show itself. He simply attacked and brought more players than the Seahawks could defend. Every time the Seahawks seemed to grab momentum, Allen's defense retook it through aggression. Allen's defense may give up a few big plays this year as a result, but he's not going to wait around for an offense to pick the Broncos apart.

5. Elvis Dumervil's added muscle paid off. He is much stronger against the run this year. In previous years, you could run right at him. No longer. This muscle, interestingly enough, has helped his bull rush, as well. Or it could be the beard, given the awesome power of facial hair. You decide.

6. Kevin Vickerson (see also the Robert Gallery note below) has stepped in nicely at the 3-technique. His long frame allows him to use his arms effectively and swim through the "B" gap. The 4-3 seems to fit him like an old tee.

7. I'd be remiss (and totally crazy) if I didn't mention the play of Joe Mays again tonight. How many hits does it take to get to the center of a running back? A lot, and Joe Mays is hankerin' to find out the exact number.

8. Orton is masterful when the play-action running game is working. His play fakes are as good as anyone in the game. If he gets a pocket, he will flat shred you up. The Broncos would be well served to continue to employ more max protection with Orton, allowing him the time he needs in the pocket to progress through his 3-receiver sets. In some ways, the way Norv Turner protects Philip Rivers is a good model for how to run an offense around Orton. I think Mike McCoy is figuring this out as the preseason goes on.

9. Tim Tebow made some great plays with this feet tonight. It can't be denied. He avoided several sacks that Orton (or many other QBs for that matter) would have taken. This, again, has been my essential argument for Tebow all along. If 50% of the plays in the NFL are going to break down, I want a quarterback who can improvise when needed. His play with just over a minute in the game was yet another example of this. It led to the winning field goal. Of course, Tebow made some terrible plays, too (see note below).

The Negatives

1. Two penalties and a negative play is not how you script your first drive of the game--it makes implementing your game plan next to impossible.

2. Robert Gallery--the first-round bust--may play for the Seattle Seahawks, but his heart is still in Oakland. Gallery gave a cheap cut block to Brodrick Bunkley late in the first quarter. On the very next play, Kevin Vickerson went after Gallery. My respect level for Vickerson went up a few notches. Gallery, as you might expect, kept cutting throughout the game. I guess you have to do something when you can't handle defenders man-up. Let's hope Bunkley is okay. He was playing a mean 1-technique so far in the preseason.

3. Kyle Orton said before the game that there are always five looks a defense shows you in each game you didn't prepare for. Looks like he saw a few of those tonight, specifically the weakside end dropping into zone coverage and the corner blitz. Orton's interception at the hands of DE Chris Clemons resulted from a poor decision by the QB. He'd be the first to tell you that. There's no excuse for it.

4. The Broncos' 4th-down play near the end of the 2nd quarter was simply poor execution. It appears at first glance that Chris Kuper simply whiffed as he charged out of the blocks.

5. Nate Jones didn't have a good night, and he's not having a good camp or preseason. That doesn't bode well.

6. The special teams play tonight was a bit putrid, outside of Matt Prater and Britton Colquitt. Muffed punts, a 105-yard kickoff return TD, and penalties do tend to nauseate.

7. Tebow also had a bad side--a very bad side. He still tucked and ran too often, collided with his backs, was inacurrate half the time, and looked like the Tazmanian Devil in the pocket. But his game-winning drive to close out the game showed everyone again what he's all about--winning. No, not in the Charlie Sheen way.

8. John Fox and Mike McCoy didn't exactly burn it up with clock management skills tonight. Their two-minute offense before the half was clunky at best, and they wasted seconds to end the game. I guess it's not just the preseason for the players.

9. If you didn't catch it, the Broncos fumbled five times tonight. Yeah, that's five times more than they should have. They didn't lose one, but recovering a fumble is virtually a random event. In short, they got lucky as hell to have recovered all five.

10. The ghost of Jeremiah Johnson left two weeks ago. It's too bad. He could have made the team.

Who The Heck Knows?

1. John Fox may not realize he's into game theory. The Broncos seem to be employing a high-variance, David-Goliath strategy used by smaller schools against larger schools in NCAA football. Run the ball, shorten the game, and go for the explosive play when it's time to pass. While it's not an optimal strategy if your team is the most talented on the field, it's a strategy that should keep the Broncos in a ton of games this year. Why? Well, they won't often be the most talented team on the field.

2. Demaryius Thomas was spotted on the field running gasers before the game. Cautious optimism is in order.

3. My lockdown prediction of the year? The Broncos' kickoff return team will matter as much as Joe Biden. Yes, I know there was a kick return for a touchdown, but it was an outlier. J.D. Walton has a closer relationship with the 20-yard than he does his girlfriend. If the NFL wants to eliminate one of the most exciting plays in sports, I guess they can.

4. In a pre-game interview Adam Schefter said the "Tebow thing" is as simple as this--Tim Tebow has been paid his money. He's the only quarterback under contract for next year. Any more questions? For what it's worth, I watched several of Tebow's throws in warmups, and the whole idea that he's only 50% versus "air" didn't ring true to me.

5. What if Mike Vick were white? No, that's not the question. I have a better question. What if Kyle McCarthy doesn't realize he's white?

6. The Broncos had 9 penalties for 73 yards. That's way too many.

7. Can the Broncos survive another injury at defensive tackle? I really don't want to go into the season with Ryan McBean riding shotgun. How about you?

8. Can the Broncos survive an injury to D.J. Williams? I think so.

9. Brady Quinn or Tebow at #2? Is the issue settled? Or do the Broncos let each one have a half next week to decide the honor? Or do you give Adam Weber some snaps?

10. As a final note, congratulations to Kyle Orton on the birth of his baby daughter. He probably installed the gameplan this week with about three hours of sleep. Kyle, just make sure to keep her away from guys like Robert Gallery.

As always, feel free to give us your own gut reactions in the comments below.

LOL man, you got me. Just chalk it up to a reaction from the ridiculous level of negativity about the kid. And to be fair, I asked a question, didn&#8217t slam you for your view. You&#8217re absolutely right, the numbers were just north of 50% for the night. Like usual, they don&#8217t tell the whole story with drops and actual ball placement, etc. as someone else pointed out, but they are what they are. Just wondered if you&#8217d seen something I hadn&#8217t. TT&#8217s placement and accuracy seem greatly improved to me overall. There wasn&#8217t one ground ball (which even the big guys cough out once in a while) and the worst pass I saw was the out of bounds long throw. TT usually hits better on the long throws. Anyway, good analysis again and thanks for the breakdown. Boy, IF pre-season is any indication, the Broncos D will be pretty decent this year.

Posted by Sinthor on 2011-08-30 01:32:15

Prospector, check in the next few days. Going to do one in depth pass

Posted by SpaceCowboy on 2011-08-28 21:28:19

TJ - really on your a-game. Funny stuff.

How about that run stuffing tackle by Miller? Blew the guy back three yards - a thing of beauty!

TJ, yeah, I think Anderson&#8217s better than he&#8217s shown. But numbers game may be tough. I still have no idea who has the lead in the returner race(s), no one&#8217s stood out to me, no one&#8217s been totally mistake-free. Guess it depends on who makes the team first of all, based on their other contributions, and then who has been most consistent. (Not that it matters much re: kickoff returns this season. <img alt="hmmm" height="19" src="http://www.singernet.com/images/smileys/hmm.gif" style="border:0;" width="19"> Mostly punt returns&#8230)

Posted by underdog on 2011-08-28 17:54:24

@ Gman: Good to see you again, my friend.

I agree. I would be shocked if Weber didn&#8217t play at the 4th quarter this next game.

On the Royal thing, it was pretty funny. I haven&#8217t seen Eddie motion like an FB/TE on a play like that&#8212ever. That&#8217s a Fells-type thing. I&#8217d be surprised to see that one again, although I know Eddie is stronger than two years ago. Still, at 5-10, 180 lbs., he&#8217s not built for that, haha

@ underdog: good note on Anderson. I caught it, but forgot to write about it. I think he&#8217s better than he&#8217s showing, right now. Willis&#8217 play also is also making it tough on him.

@ JT: I&#8217d like to know the same about Tim. I wonder if perhaps he had a QB coach lined up and it didn&#8217t go through, or perhaps he underestimated the lockout. It wouldn&#8217t make sense for a guy like that to have not hired a QB guy as Quinn did with Hackett. I find it both strange and hard to believe. But thus far, I haven&#8217t heard or read anything to the contrary that he did try to secure some training.

In some ways, he&#8217s a victim of circumstance. His two QB coaches, Ben and Josh McDaniels, simply were gone.

Posted by TJ Johnson on 2011-08-28 17:48:38

RalphW,

It elementary at this point. He&#8217s taken his lessons from Greg Williams and it shows. In the season, I think you&#8217ll see a blitz on almost all third downs. They may not even need too, however, if Von and Elvis continue at this pace.

Posted by TJ Johnson on 2011-08-28 17:38:54

FIE,

Success? Ha. Well, I&#8217m not so sure about that. Maybe Ted and Doc. I think if I wasn&#8217t writing so quickly and had six or seven hours before I kicked out a draft, I probably would have edited that sentence and made it better. But yeah, I was using the term a little loosely.

If I was a hard-core Tebow guy, I could see how one might jump on it. My main point really is that Tebow makes plays. I&#8217m not so sure the accuracy thing is, at the end of the day, and if they keep his style (ie Roethlisberger), a huge negative for me.

Posted by TJ Johnson on 2011-08-28 17:36:46

Tombstone,

I think I was going on fumes, so my subtext went out the window, but I laughed, so I left it. I&#8217m told that what I laugh at my own stuff, that sometimes it might not be funny. But that view is lost on me <img alt="wink" height="19" src="http://www.singernet.com/images/smileys/wink.gif" style="border:0;" width="19">

Posted by TJ Johnson on 2011-08-28 17:33:22

bradley,

I&#8217m glad I wasn&#8217t the only one who was tired. When you rewatch the game today, check out Elvis against the run, especially the few times they try and double him with the TE/T. He got really low and got his knee through the blocks (what you&#8217re supposed to do) and still flowed to the ball. It was actually pretty darn amazing.

Posted by TJ Johnson on 2011-08-28 17:31:44

Chooch,

Good observations. Bradley sort of led me to this last week. Alfred Williams probably was not as good as he could have been because of Vern. Vern was all over the map. This second week, Al figured out how to work around (through?) him, to be sure.

The hawks were forced to go into a lot of one-back sets in the game because they got down. I think you&#8217ll find this. Further, they just couldn&#8217t run early. It&#8217s hard to believe that any team looks forward to seeing Doom and Miller on 3rd down. It is like unleashing hell.

Posted by TJ Johnson on 2011-08-28 17:29:20

Do you think Adam Weber will get any playing time next week? It would be a shame to cut him without giving him a game look. Maybe they are trying to &#8220hide&#8221 him for the practice squad?

On the failed 4th down conversion, did anyone else think it was crazy to motion Royal in to block? If I was a defense I&#8217d certainly expect the run to be away from the side he was blocking on, and it was.

Posted by Gman on 2011-08-28 15:47:56

Hey Space Cowboy, I want to hear your thoughts on your thoughts on this game on your blog page. Just IN: The SeaHawks are a very bad team, and T. Jackson should be out of the NFL. MEMO to Seattle&#8217s Defensive Coordinator, you are an idiot. Only rushing 3 against Kyle Orton is insane. Ok you rush 3 lineman at Kyle, and do cornerback blitzes against Tebow. The only reason Kyle looked great is because the seahawks rarely blitzed him or just rushed 3 lineman. Again, the Orton blueprint is always rush at least 4. Always, and he will wilt like a flower in the desert. Tebow to me is obviously pressing to make big plays. I thought McCoy&#8217s playcalling with Tebow was horrible to say the least. Hey FOX, why not go for it on 4th down? You have Tebow at QB, I think you could get a yard. & Fox nice game management at the end, after Tebows big pass you fail to call time out. NICE&#8230 Take the handcuffs off of Tebow. He showed me his inner Elway last night. He played FOXY&#8217s way until the last drive, and then it was Tebow time for the win. As I recall that was Mr. Elway&#8217s formula back in the day. He followed Reeves plan until late in the 2nd half when he would then use his &#8220magic&#8221 to win the games. I still would like to see Tebow throwing to LLoyd & Royal.. He had at least 2 or 3 drops yesterday. After preseason please call me when Orton gets yanked.

Joe Mays seemed to be much more solid. He was there when he needed to be, and when he did show, he got the job done. I was a bit worried whether he was all heart but short on ability. Seems his heart might be so big that it&#8217s improving his ability.

Can&#8217t for the life of me figure out why there were 3 or 4 solid passes that were dropped by our top guys at the beginning of the game.

That first team offense sloppiness was horrid (like you said). I was wondering if it had to do with Orton&#8217s absence the past couple of days. Once they got going, it seemed to click pretty well.

....and other bits and pieces&#8230.

Von Doom. Nothing short of amazing. Von Miller is what a #1 draft pick should look like. That guy, provided he stays healthy, might just find his name on the ring of fame.

Tebow needs more development time. No doubt about it. Quinn&#8217s style is much closer to what that offense is built around, especially since they&#8217ll find themselves working with Orton for most of the time. If Tebow takes the initiative to get himself a QB throwing coach and fix his pocket passing issues (still scratching my head why he hasn&#8217t done that yet), give him the reps next year.

Posted by jtomasik on 2011-08-28 14:17:07

Great stuff as always TJ.

I watched the &#8220tape&#8221 via NFL.com&#8217, which meant I got the Seahawks broadcast for some reason. Those guys aren&#8217t bad btw, except for goofing up names quite often, and not just in the &#8220oh it&#8217s preseason, obscure guys&#8221 kind of way. Kept calling Jluius Thomas Demaruyus. But glad to hear DT is getting back in action! Anyway, Warren Moon is pretty solid.

Back to the game, can&#8217t add much here.

But man I actually sort of feel sorry for Nick Jones at this point. Tuesday won&#8217t be a good day for him, I&#8217m guessing. He sure did make it easier for staff to cut him.

The OL still looks erratic to me, the starters had some poor pass protection at times, but picked it up. First two plays of 2nd half they looked awful and then were excellent the rest of that drive for the most part. Tebow doesn&#8217t get as good a line protecting him and mostly did the best he could, but some of the goofs are on him, holding the ball too long still, not always comfortable in the pocket, etc. But as you point out he made some nice plays, too, and sure can run. Orton had one bad throw, the pick&#8212he should know better than to lock down on a receiver, miss the 2nd cover guy, still throw&#8212but other than that and not being as mobile as TT he looked very good to me.

KnowMo and Willis if they stay healthy could be a terrific 1-2 punch this year and Ball solidified his case for prime backup.

But the thing that makes me drool more than anything is that pass rush of Allen&#8217s. Hoo boo, Doom, Miller, Ayers, the safeties, etc, this is gonna be a fun year to watch that Orange Crush rush. The Seahawks&#8217 line admittedly looks a little porous (not to mention cheapshotters) but they never stood a chance against that rush. I hope to see Raider QBs on their butt a lot in that first game.

Special teams had some bad moments obviously. (Cox and Anderson didn&#8217t make a good case for themselves and that runback for TD was a mess.) But kudos to Hauschka for his clutch kick. Good to know we&#8217ll have a capable backup to fill in if our drunkard kicker gets suspended. (Prater looks as great as always on the field.)

Still some stuff to fix but I like what I am seeing, especially from both starting units.

Dennis Allen &#8220signing&#8221 IS HUGE. Not only for what he brings in terms of scheme, but what I fugure to be some consistancy! This is his first head D-coordinator job, right? Which means with even a little gradual success, he shoul remain a Bronco for the next few years. That alone is worth getting excited about!

Posted by RalphW on 2011-08-28 13:08:04

&#8220I was just chatting with someone here and the person asked me, &#8216how many comments before a Tebow person interprets your ‘half the time’ comment literally?&#8217 I responded, “probably 1 or 2.”

He was 54% passing tonight. I didnât mean the comment to say he was missing the barn exactly 50% of the time, my friend.&#8221

I think in the comments you&#8217re a victim of your own success and that of IAOFM. We don&#8217t expect you guys to conflate completion percentage and accuracy. We expect comments like this are based on comparing where the ball was thrown to where it should have been thrown, since so many things can affect the actual completion.

Posted by Fan in Exile on 2011-08-28 12:51:09

Dude, your response to Joe was masterful. And right after you post, do you shake your computer upside down, yelling &#8220Who does number 2 work for?!?!&#8221

I only watched the first half (I&#8217m an early to bed guy) but I&#8217ll watch it all today. It&#8217s about 4:30 MDT, and I&#8217ve been up for an hour already, waiting for the caffeine to kick in.

I&#8217ll say this: Dumerville got a huge new contract a year ago, and already he&#8217s underpaid. It&#8217s really quite unfair to opposing offenses to let him on the field. Goodell will probably make him wear weights in his shoes.

Posted by bradley on 2011-08-28 10:43:53

Great Job on the recap, though one negative I would like to add&#8230 The NBC producers of our preseason games. I guess it is preseason for them as well, but man, how many plays were missed because they were in a cut away shot, only to join the action as the play was in its midst, or even ending. Between the horrible in-game editing and Vern Lundquist once again having no idea who was on the field, yet having the gull to out the refs when they announced the wrong player numbers on penalties, it was a rough night for the production crew and talent.

Seeing our defense force 5 straight three and outs after the Seachickens first 4 drives was a thing of beauty. Miller making 3 straight plays to start the third quarter was damn impressive, starting with the beautiful form tackle on Forsett that drove him back seemingly 5 yards (though it was negated by offensive holding), chasing Forsett down from behind when he had a bit of daylight, and then beating Carpenter with the inside move I believe you mentioned in your recap, to get the sack on second and long. The guy had me on the edge of my seat the entire night.

Doom was just as impressive, and yes he seems VASTLY improved against the run. Watching him shed blockers and attack the ball carrier has me almost as excited as watching him make Tackles look silly on passing plays. I think you are right, his BEARD has made all the difference, not only in appearence, but in attitude and ability&#8230 LOVE that guy, and love seeing him back on the field at a position he seems much more natural and comfortable with. As well as back on sidelines laughing and smiling with the rest of the crew.

It is fun trying to pick out where these two are on the field at the beginning of each play, not that it is hard to miss them once the play has started. I agree that Dennis Allen deserves a lot of credit for getting these guys in position to make plays. One thing I noticed on a few drives was a lot of pre-snap movement, but on a few occasions it seemed that we were confused and did not have time to set before the play began. Do you see this as part of the learning process, and what exactly do you see them doing on these plays? I have yet to rewatch the game, so I cannot think of which plays, alignments or packages were in use when these occurred.

Lastly, I agree that the Gallery play was DIRTY and totally unnecessary for a preseason game. The sideline reporter, during the injury report, commented that although Bunk walked off under his own power, he was seen slamming the wall on the way down the tunnel (though luckily not with his head, but hand, so its likely not a neck injury. I mean, how embarrassing would that be&#8230).

Posted by Chooch on 2011-08-28 08:37:13

Thanks, Boydy! I think I&#8217d rather be there, actually!

Posted by TJ Johnson on 2011-08-28 06:44:13

2005 was the year before they fired Larry Coyer, and it was 6 years down hill after that.

Posted by oorange blood on 2011-08-28 06:43:00

Sinthor,

I was just chatting with someone here and the person asked me, &#8220how many comments before a Tebow person interprets your &#8216half the time&#8217 comment literally?&#8221 I responded, &#8220probably 1 or 2.&#8221

He was 54% passing tonight. I didn&#8217t mean the comment to say he was missing the barn exactly 50% of the time, my friend.

I thought he did some good things. In fact, I mention so. His accuracy was average tonight, I would say, though, if I had to rate it.

Posted by TJ Johnson on 2011-08-28 06:43:00

Nice job TJ&#8230.you are keeping me alive in NZ man&#8230..

Posted by Boydy2669 on 2011-08-28 06:36:27

How exactly was Tebow inaccurate &#8220half of the time?&#8221 I think he&#8217s shown a lot of progress actually. I recall one deep pass out of bounds, but not by tons and throws like that by &#8220established&#8221 QB&#8217s just get a brief nod of &#8220aw shucks,&#8221 and another way off pass when his arm was hit. The catch by Willis was thrown too low, but catchable&#8230that was his sketchiest throw all night by far. His others were pretty much dead on from what I can tell. Two certainly should have been caught. What am I missing?

Posted by Sinthor on 2011-08-28 06:32:38

Royal,

Yeah, those DTs are tough for the Hawks, to be sure. That&#8217s why I mentioned Walton. I really like how Walton has grown in his 2nd year, thus far.

I&#8217ll ask Doc to take a look at Beadles when he does his recap tomorrow and Monday. I didn&#8217t see Beadles get a great push, and would probably give him a average grade, like you. I think Franklin will shine eventually, though, at RT. You can&#8217t go against Miller and Doom without getting better. In fact, I thought Franklin&#8217s pass blocking in the last two games is not perfect. But he has such strength he has been able to still lean and get out of position and still fend of his guy. That shows you just how strong he is.

That Kuper/Franklin play was quick, so it&#8217s possible I did miss it. I&#8217ll try and find it and have another look. If I missed it, I will make sure to come back and note it. The gut was wrong? The horror!

Posted by TJ Johnson on 2011-08-28 06:21:20

Dude,

On that fourth down play, I thought it was Franklin who missed the block? Maybe it was both Kuper and Franklin?

Also, I thought Beadles was pretty bad tonight. Granted, Mebane and Branch are two big dudes, but his play really has me worried. If this continues through the season, I&#8217m thinking Franklin will eventually move to LG, with Beadles as our swing tackle and someone else at RT. Not a new thought, but now we&#8217ve got some film to back it up.

Posted by Royalwithcheese on 2011-08-28 06:00:19

Joe,

Thanks! We always try and get it up with 20 minutes of the end of every game. We&#8217ve done it within 10 before and sometimes we get it out a little later than we want to, but we really push hard to get it out.

Posted by TJ Johnson on 2011-08-28 05:44:05

Space,

Ha, don&#8217t turn the mirror on me!

I&#8217d probably go with Tim, but not because he&#8217s somehow &#8220better.&#8221 I&#8217d do it because inserting him in the game would change the Broncos&#8217 offense immediately from a personnel and package standpoint. The Defense would not have game planned for it either. So it would be to the Broncos advantage.

What do I think they&#8217ll do? It&#8217s a bit moot, I think. Tebow, has his special packages already in the system. They just haven&#8217t talked much in the media about it. So you are going to see Tebow in the games this year, even with Orton. I can assure you.

Posted by TJ Johnson on 2011-08-28 05:25:37

I was hoping the gut reaction would go up tonight. Glad to see it. Haven&#8217t seen the game yet, but looking forward to watching it first thing in the morning now that I know what to expect. It&#8217s like reading the last few pages of a book before reading the beginning! Can&#8217t wait&#8230 Thanks TJ.